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You'll find practical classroom strategies and tips from real educators, as well as lesson ideas, personal stories, and innovative approaches to improving your teaching practice. If you have any thoughts or comments about these blogs, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Elena AguilarSeptember 23, 2008

There is a strong case to be made for integrating curriculum. It strengthens skills that students encounter in one content area but also practice in another, and it can lead to the mastery of those skills. It is also a more authentic way of learning because it reflects what we experience, both professionally and personally, in the world.

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Stephen HurleySeptember 18, 2008

"The highly structured school with its fixed timetable, isolated subject areas, centralized curriculum, and authoritarian nature is giving way to a new order that places less stress on mechanical rote learning and greater importance on the discovery and exploration of concepts and impressions."

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Elena AguilarSeptember 16, 2008

There is the possibility of profound transformation in telling our stories and listening to the stories of other people. This belief is at the core of why I read and write, and why I'm passionate about developing a love for reading and writing in students.

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Suzie BossSeptember 11, 2008

On a recent late summer morning in Portland, Oregon, I walked past the downtown farmers' market, where vendors were setting up their lush displays of fruits and vegetables. Food was on my mind, but for a different reason. I was on my way to a forum for young people about how they could help fight world hunger.

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Jim MoultonSeptember 9, 2008

I had a lesson recently on both the importance of listening to others and how to effectively give advice. Have you received advice that you initially thought you should ignore, but then decided to follow it and were glad you did? Here's what happened to me. Let me know what happened to you.

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Elena AguilarSeptember 4, 2008

In my previous post, I discussed how important it is for me to connect with my students, and how one way I do so is by eliciting their stories.

I also need to make connections with other teachers. So I ask, why do you teach? Most teachers get a dreamy look on their faces when I ask them this question. Most haven't thought about it in a while.

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Ben JohnsonSeptember 2, 2008

This is an exciting time of year -- brand-new classes and brand-new students. When I was a teacher, I didn't realize that I had an advantage over every other profession. Each year, I got a fresh start, a clean slate, a tabula rasa. I had all summer to reflect on how I did and to prepare to make the next year even better.

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Jim MoultonAugust 26, 2008

This is the second part of a two-part entry. Read part one.

Sports teams have booster clubs -- people who straddle the formally regulated school funding arena and private enterprise. This means they are able to act like entrepreneurs -- go for what they want or need, rather than having to convince somebody else (like a principal, a technology director, or a school board) of the worthiness of their idea.

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Elena AguilarAugust 21, 2008

For the first few years that I taught, my stomach hurt constantly in the weeks before school started. The anxiety was a mixture of dread and excitement and anticipation. Every year, I mourned the end of summer, but I'd also get revved up, ready to start and get my hands messy with learning.

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Jim MoultonAugust 19, 2008

I'm heading home from Columbus, Ohio, on a fine, clear summer morning. I am in a window seat on the plane, as always, and on takeoff we fly right past downtown, en route to Cincinnati. On this flight path I get a wonderful view down into the Ohio State football stadium, where the word Buckeyes is emblazoned across the end zone, bold white text on a crimson background.

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